INDIANAPOLIS – The first Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week were introduced as teams across the league were tested between various distances on opening weekend.
 
The United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association’s preseason regional rankings and national poll indicated that the Great Midwest will have strong representation for both genders.
 
The USTFCCCA Midwest Region preseason rankings placed NCAA qualifier and defending men’s conference champ Walsh at No. 4, Malone in sixth and Cedarville at No. 9.
 
The women had four teams locked into the Midwest Region preseason rankings led by preseason coaches poll favorite and defending league champ Hillsdale at No. 2. Walsh followed closely behind at No. 4 while Malone and Cedarville were polled back-to-back in the No. 8 and 9 slots.
 
The Walsh men’s unit is also viewed as one of the nation’s best and the Cavaliers start the fall ranked 19th in the national poll.
 
Hillsdale’s women secured a top five preseason national ranking while Walsh is in 13th. Both teams are replacing their top guns from a year ago, All-Americans Hannah McIntyre and Sarah Berger.
 
Men’s Athlete of the Week
Joseph Humes
Hillsdale
Junior
Maybee, MI (Milan HS)
 
After qualifying for track nationals in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500-meter run, the stock from the Chargers’ junior is on a rapid ascent.
 
Humes opened his new campaign with an individual win at the 5K Jeff Drenth Memorial Invitational hosted by Central Michigan as the Chargers finished third as a team.
 
Humes officially broke the conference record for a 5K race with an impressive time of 15:13.44, almost four seconds faster from the previous best of Malone’s George McCartney set just last season.
 
This is Humes’ first career Great Midwest cross country weekly honor. He was a track athlete of the week in 2017-18 and was the Great Midwest Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet at the conference championships that Hillsdale hosted.
 
Women’s Athlete of the Week
Arena Lewis
Hillsdale
Junior
Belen, NM (Belen HS)
 
The big question entering the fall was who could replace McIntyre, who left a trail of impressive accomplishments, records and awards in her wake. Lewis is projected to be one of the team leaders for a program with very high expectations once again.
 
The fifth-ranked Chargers are relying on experience and youth (Allysen Eads, Lewis, Sophia Maeda, Christina Sawyer, Maryssa Depies) to keep pace among the nation’s best programs under head coach Andrew Towne.
 
Hillsdale debuted with a runner-up team performance at the Drenth Memorial in Mount Pleasant, Mich., as Lewis finished sixth overall with a time of 18:14.52.
 
That time ranks 18th officially in the Great Midwest records, not an easy placement with Berger, former teammate McIntyre and several Cedarville standouts staking their claim.
 
Hillsdale’s cumulative team time of 1:32:43.94 from the season opener ranks sixth all-time among best 5K races. Lewis finished just outside the top 50 individual last year at the national cross country championships.